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Henderson-Thomson announced

Mike Chiappetta

Mike Chiappetta has documented the fast-growing sport of mixed martial arts since 2006 for news organizations including SB Nation, NBCSports.com, FIGHT! Magazine, AOL and ESPN. He appears regularly as an analyst on countless television shows and radio programs, including CBS Radio and MMA Beat. Follow him on Twitter.

Josh Thomson was supposed to be in the final stretches of
preparing to fight for the UFC lightweight championship next month,
but with titleholder Anthony Pettis injured and facing the prospect
of surgery, Thomson has moved on to the next best available
matchup.

That happens to be the man who held the belt before Pettis,
former champ Benson Henderson. The two will face off in the main
event of a UFC on FOX show scheduled for Jan. 25 at the United
Center in Chicago.

Dana White announced the pairing late on Saturday night.

Thomson returned to the promotion in April, becoming the first
man ever to knock out Nate Diaz, pulling off the trick with a head
kick and punches in the second round of their bout.

Prior to that, Thomson (20-5 1 no contest) had last competed in
the UFC in 2004, going 2-1 during a brief run. He would later go on
to win the Strikeforce lightweight championship.

Henderson (19-3) will be attempting to regain the form that
brought him to the top of the division and kept him there for three
successful defenses. The 30-year-old lost his belt to Pettis in
August via armbar, ending his seven-fight win streak.

The appearance on FOX will mark the third time in his last four
bouts he appears on network TV.

The event will mark the third consecutive year the UFC visits
Chicago in January. The most recent event in 2013 drew over 16,000
to watch Demetrious Johnson successfully defend his UFC flyweight
championship with a decision over John Dodson.

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